A Little Blood that Cries
by MissFiyerabaMeponineSherlock
Summary: Éponine needs to know that Marius is still alive, so she goes to the barricade. She does not care for her own life, only for his.


**I felt like writing something depressing... enjoy...**

**Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own Les Mis or the characters.**

Éponine walked towards the barricade in the pouring rain with only one thought on her mind: Marius. Was he alive? Was he okay? She wouldn't know until she got there. And so, disguised as a boy, she made her way to the barricade. She walked down the Rue des Invalides and onto the Quartier des Halles, past the Rue des Billettes, down the alleyways of the Quartier du Marais, onto the Rue de la Chanvrerie. As she neared the Faubourg Saint-Martin there the barricade stood, in the narrow street of the Rue Saint-Martin and a smaller barricade stood in the Rue Saint-Denis. Éponine did not see any National Guardsmen about, so she stepped out of the shadows that had concealed her. She crept towards the barricade and started to climb. A shot was fired at her, but it missed. She had been wrong to assume that just because she could not see them, the National Guardsmen were not there. She tried to climb faster. Another shot fired. It passed through her back and out her chest. She cried out in pain and wrapped her jacket tightly around herself to hide the wound. She was faintly aware of somebody shouting 'there's a boy climbing the barricade!' and then she was being helped over the barricade. She knew that there were several guns pointed at her, this time they belonged to the revolutionaries.

"It's fine!" Somebody shouted, "I know him!" Éponine would recognise that voice anywhere. _Marius._ He was alive, thank God! The revolutionaries lowered their guns. Éponine stumbled over to Marius, who grabbed her arm gently. "Good God, what are you doing? 'Ponine have you no fear!?"

"Took the letter, like you said. Met her father at the door. He'll give her the letter tomorrow." she told him. Marius had asked her to deliver a letter to Cosette. He hadn't known where to find her as she and her father had moved from number 55 Rue Plumet, but Éponine always knew what to do. She gasped in pain. "I don't think I can stand anymore." she said as she collapsed. Marius caught her.

"Éponine, what's wrong?" he asked her. He felt wetness in her hair. He pulled his hand away and it was slick with crimson blood. His eyes widened. He pulled her jacked open, revealing her blood soaked blouse and the bullet wound in her chest, where with each pulsation, blood flowed from her wound like a jet of wine from an open cask. "Oh God... it's everywhere..." He sank to the ground, cradling her in his arms. Éponine knew that she was going to die and she had already accepted it, but she could see that Marius blamed himself.

"Don't you fret, Monsieur Marius, I know that I must die. A little blood that cries, a few drops of rain. You're here, that's all that matters to me. You will keep me safe, pressed close against your heart, even death could never keep us apart." She said softly.

"But you will live, 'Ponine, please know it's true! Love knows how heal you." he whispered, though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than her. Tears formed in his eyes. Éponine smiled sadly at him.

"Even love can do nothing for me. But don't you worry, let it be..."

"You would live a hundred years if I could show you how. If you would just listen to me now..." his voice shook, tears falling from his eyes.

"A few drops of rain. You are... the springtime returning. And you... will keep me... safe, pressed close... against... your heart... Even death... could never keep us... apart." she gasped in pain. Marius held her closer. _Oh God, please don't let her die! _Marius prayed. _Oh God, please no!_ "I'm sorry I must leave, it all seems so distant. And at your wedding I... will be... absent." she said as she handed him a letter Cosette had left for him yesterday. The letter said where he could find her, but Éponine had hidden it so that Marius would think Cosette had left without a word. But now she felt wrong for doing that. She didn't want to die having kept something from Marius. "Here is her letter, it is... my gift, a couple months... in advance." Marius took the letter, though he was not sure that he planned to read it. "But don't you fret, Monsieur Marius, I know that... I must... die."

"Hushabye, dear Éponine. I don't want you to die." he whispered shakily.

"A little... blood that... cries. A few drops... of rain." they sang together.

"I'm here." he told her. She smiled, a heartwrenching smile.

"That's all... that matters... to... me. And you... will keep me... safe,"

"I will stay here," he said,

"Pressed close against... your heart..."

"'Til you are sleeping." he had accepted the fact that she would die.

"And death..." she whispered,

"And death," he echoed,

"Could... never... keep us..."

"Could never keep us..." he murmured. Éponine leaned up as if to kiss him, but just before her lips met his she fell back, dead. She had not gotten her kiss, yet she had still died somewhat happy in Marius' arms. He was the only man she'd ever loved. "Apart..." Marius whispered, finishing their song. He sobbed. Éponine was dead. His best friend was gone and he felt truly alone. She had died because of him. If he had not sent her to deliver that letter... She was gone. There was nothing he could do. He couldn't help her now. No one could. She was gone. She had been wrong, death had separated them. Or so he thought. Even though Éponine Thénardier was dead, she would not leave Marius. She would watch over him until the day he died and she would be the first person he saw when he did die.

Éponine Thénardier would not let a silly thing like death keep her apart from her Monsieur Marius.

**Hope you liked it! The lyrics were a mix of the English and the French version of A Little Fall of Rain, as well as some new lyrics of my own creation. Please review!**


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